Bristol City’s Gerhard Struber forgives Köln after returning to ‘footballing paradise’ in England

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Former Köln head coach Gerhard Struber could be working the Bundesliga sidelines this season. Unfortunately for the 48-year-old, his 2. Bundesliga club didn’t quite trust him to help them complete their promotion push last spring. Struber led die Geißböcke second place in the 2. Bundesliga table with just two matches remaining. The cathedral city club nevertheless turned to Friedhelm Funkel to help guide the team back to the top flight. 

The Austrian head coach fortunately wasn’t unemployed for long. Within a month, the former Barnsley manager was back in the EFL Championship fronting English second division side Bristol City ahead of the new season. Struber discussed this whirlwind turn-of-events and other topics in an interview with Transfermarkt.

On the decision to move back to the Isle

“Immediately after leaving Köln, I received an inquiry from [an unnamed] big German traditional club. There were also offers from Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Honestly, my initial reaction was to take a break. England is nevertheless a footballing paradise. I really appreciate England as a footballing country and knew that, if an offer came along from the right club, I would take it.

“As a coach, one often doesn’t get the opportunity to go back there. Bristol City fit my style. It was a great opportunity to get back on track and the best decision. When we started training, I had completely left 1. FC Köln behind me and was fully focused on this new task. I’m not angry anymore. It took some time, but now I look back on it [the Köln dismissal] differently.“

On what specifically bothered him about the Köln dismissal

“There was so much drama at Köln after the relegation and due to the transfer ban. The atmosphere in and around the club was not good when I took over. Nevertheless, we were on course for promotion until shortly before the end. I don’t really want to go into the details. That’s in the past. We were very close to promotion. It wasn’t always pretty to watch how we played. But in the end, we were still in an automatic promotion spot. But as I said, I really don’t want to talk about it.”

On differences between England and Germany 

“The games here are almost always sold out. The fans celebrate football and the actions on the field is cheered on. Of course, this is also the case at some of the traditional clubs in Germany, but perhaps it’s a little different because the fans have a different approach to football games and also celebrate their own choreography. That’s a little less the case in England.

“Of course, it’s also great here in England [as a manager as opposed to a ‘trainer’] because I have a say in transfers. Bristol is a very lively and livable city with very cheerful people who like to celebrate. There is a certain similarity to Köln without carnival. It is a very interesting city; you can feel the history and nostalgia. Added to this is the typical English humor, which I really like.“

GGFN | Peter Weis